Medium Filling Device And Method

ABSTRACT

A medium filling device includes a container rotatably supported, to contain an image forming medium, a dispenser configured to receive a constant quantity of the image forming medium from the container by a turn of the container, and a discharger configured to discharge the image forming medium from the dispenser to a target.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application is based on and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-065319, filed on Mar. 22, 2012, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a medium filling device and method for filling an image forming medium such as a toner into a toner container, a toner cartridge, or a process cartridge.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are two kinds of toners for use in an electrophotographic image forming devices, that is, genuine products offered by the manufacturers of the image forming devices and refilled products offered by toner suppliers to users. The latter, the refilled products are more cost-effective for users, therefore, are higher in demand than the former.

However, in emerging countries there are few suppliers offering refilled products and the transportation infrastructure has not been well developed, so that toner refill products are not available in some areas.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-92100, for example, discloses a toner filling device for a toner container, a toner cartridge, or a process cartridge (hereinafter referred to as a toner container) configured to supply an airflow into a toner filling device to fill a toner container with the toner.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-104301, for example, discloses a powder filling device configured to introduce a gas into a container containing powder to fluidize powder, and fill a powder container with the fluidized powder.

However, the above-mentioned filling devices are suitable to fill a larger number of toner containers (or powder containers) with toners in well-equipped working facilities such as a plant, but the devices are so large in scale that the costs required for initial investment are heavy burden on suppliers. Accordingly, the users of image forming devices have to be charged higher filling costs.

In addition, due to an adequate transportation infrastructure, filling work at facilities such as a plant costs more in some areas, further increasing filling costs. Moreover, the suppliers faces a problem that using a productive large-lot toner filling device is not good for filling a variety of small-lot toner containers and decreases productivity because a large amount of man-hours are required to switch toner types or powder types.

Another problem is that a large-scale device requires enormous amounts of electricity for operation, which also increases the filling costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a medium filling device and method that enables anyone to easily fill a target with an image forming medium anywhere with a simple structure at low cost.

According to one aspect of an embodiment, a medium filling device includes a container rotatably supported, to contain an image forming medium, a dispenser configured to receive a constant quantity of the image forming medium from the container by a turn of the container, and a discharger configured to discharge the image forming medium from the dispenser to a target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, embodiments, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1A, 1B are schematic cross sectional view showing the configuration of a toner filling device according to a first embodiment when a container of the toner filling device is inverted and when the container of the toner filling device is erected, respectively;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of neighborhood of a dispenser in the toner filling device of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A, 3B are schematic cross sectional views showing the configuration of a toner filling device according to second embodiment when a container of the toner filling device is inverted and when the container of the toner filling device is erected;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of neighborhood of a dispenser in the toner filling device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of neighborhood of a dispenser in the toner filling device of FIG. 3, showing an auxiliary container further rotated than that in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the auxiliary container;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an inward protrusion provided on the bottom of a container body;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the auxiliary container, a handle, and a ball valve;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the container body in an erected state;

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C show positional relations between a suction hole of the inward protrusion and a suction hole of the auxiliary container and between an outlet hole of the auxiliary container and an outlet hole of the inward protrusion;

FIGS. 11A, 11B show the container body including residual toner and the same including no residual toner according to the second embodiment, respectively;

FIGS. 12A, 12B show another feature of the container body including residual toner and including no residual toner according to the second embodiment, respectively;

FIG. 13A is a perspective view the container body having a carrying assistance member when legs are extended, and FIG. 13B is a perspective view of the same when the legs are folded;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the container body inverted;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of another example of the toner filling device according to the second embodiment;

FIGS. 16A, 16B show a flexible hose according to a third embodiment for use in filling toner when the height of a filling target is high and when the height of a filling target is low, respectively;

FIG. 17 shows an example of a coiled spring inserted into the flexible hose;

FIGS. 18A, 18B show an example of a bellows type hose when the ball valve is positioned high from a floor surface and when the ball valve is positioned low from the floor surface, respectively;

FIG. 19 is a cross sectional view of a screw portion connecting the flexible hose or the bellows type hose with a tip end of the ball valve;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a container body according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective view of an opening/closing mechanism;

FIG. 22 is a view of another example of the opening/closing mechanism;

FIG. 23 is a detailed exploded perspective view of the auxiliary container.

FIG. 24A is a front view of a regulation member and FIG. 24B is a bottom view thereof;

FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective view of a discharge regulation plate and a toner filler;

FIG. 26 is a cross sectional view of the discharge regulation plate and the toner filler.

FIG. 27 is an exploded perspective view of another example of the discharge regulation plate and the toner filler; and

FIG. 28 is a cross sectional view of the discharge regulation plate and the toner filler in FIG. 27.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. Note that the toner is used as an image forming medium in the following descriptions of the present embodiments.

First Embodiment

FIGS. 1A, 1B are schematic cross sectional view showing the configuration of a toner filling device according to a first embodiment when a container of the toner filling device is inverted and when the container of the toner filling device is erected, respectively.

A container body 11 is comprised of a main portion 11A as a bottomed cylinder and a cone portion 11B above the main portion 11A. The container body 11 is held at two locations on its sides by stainless legs 12. Specifically, supporting shafts 13, 14 are fixed to the sides of the main portion 11A of the container body 11, and one end 12A of the legs 12 is rotatably attached to the supporting shaft 13 while the other end 12B of the legs 12 is rotatably attached to the supporting shaft 14.

In addition to the legs 12, stainless legs 15 (see FIG. 13 and FIG. 14) are also attached to the supporting shafts 13, 14. Likewise, one end 15A of the legs 15 is rotatably attached to the supporting shaft 13 while the other end 15B is rotatably attached to the supporting shaft 14. Note that the container body as a whole is made of an ABS material.

The supporting shafts 13, 14 are arranged on opposed sides, placing the container body 11 therebetween. The legs 12, 15 are U-shaped with L-folded portions on the bottom side. Then, width L1 of the bottom side is set larger than that L2 of a top side (width between the one end 12A and the other end 12B of the legs 12). In addition, the supporting shafts 13, 14 as the rotation center of the container body 11 are arranged above the center of gravity of the container body 11 while the container body 11 is erected.

The container body 11 includes, at the center of in vertical direction, a cylindrical member 16 provided with a dispenser 17 and a discharger 18. With the container body 11 inverted, the dispenser 17 is located on the bottom side of the container body 11, and the discharger 18 is located on the top side of the container body 11. The dispenser 17 is shaped of a cylinder having a bottom closed. The discharger 18 is formed to have a tapered top portion of which a ball valve 19 is attached to a tip end.

The discharger 17 penetrates an end of the cone portion 11B of the container body 11 and is integrally formed with the cone portion 11B (see FIG. 2). The discharger 18 also penetrates a bottom wall 11C of the container body 11 and is integrally formed with the bottom wall 11C.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of neighborhood of a dispenser in the toner filling device of FIG. 1. A peripheral wall 17A is integrally formed with the cone portion 11B of the container body 11. Specifically, the end of the cone portion 11B is closely placed on the peripheral wall 17A of the dispenser 17. Then, several inflow holes 20 are formed around a portion of the peripheral wall 17A of the dispenser 17 in close contact with the cone portion 11B. The inflow holes 20 are designed to allow a toner to flow from the container body 11 into the dispenser 17. It includes a base 20A to be flush with a top surface 11D of the cone portion 11B of the container body 11 at the portion in close contact with the cone portion 11B is placed closely.

The discharger 17A comprises a check valve 21 on the top portion. The check valve 21 is formed of a circular plate one lateral side of which (right side in FIG. 2) is attached to an inner peripheral wall of the cylindrical member 16 through a hinge 22. Also, a stopper 23 is attached to an opposite side of the inner peripheral wall, facing the hinge 22. This makes the check valve 21 rotatable in A1 and A2 directions. Then, when rotating in the A1 direction, the check valve 21 abuts the stopper 23 to block communications of the interior of the dispenser 17 with that of the cylindrical member 16, or the valve becomes closed. When rotating in the A2 direction, the check valve 21 allows the communication of the interior of the dispenser 17 with the interior of the cylindrical member 16, or the valve becomes opened. Note that the check valve 21 is provided with a weight 24 on a surface opposite to the surface abutting the stopper 23.

As shown in FIG. 1, the container body 11 further includes a bar-like holder 25 protruding in the vicinity of the supporting shaft 14 on the lateral side. The holder 25 abuts an extended portion 12C to hold the container body in the inverted state. The extended portion 12C extends from the other end 12B of the leg 12. Note that two handles 26 for an operator to manually rotate the container body 11 are provided on the lateral sides of the container body 11.

The operation of the toner filling device according to the present embodiment will be described as follows.

Normally, the container body is placed in an erected state, as shown in FIG. 1B. Note that although FIG. 1B shows a toner indicated by shading in the discharger 18, no toner is normally present in the discharger 18 when the container body 11 is carried or stored.

First, for filling a target with a toner, as shown in FIG. 1A, the container body 11 is turned to be inverted. Then, the toner flows from the container body 11 into the dispenser 17 through the inflow hole. The dispenser 17 is set to have a constant capacity to flow a constant quantity of the toner into the dispenser 17. In the present embodiment, owing to the weight 24, in particular, the check valve is prevented from opening, even if the toner in the dispenser 17 is applied with pressure from the toner in the container body 11 by its own weight. Consequently, the quantity of the toner in the dispenser 17 can be constantly maintained.

Next, the container body 11 is turned as indicated by arrow B in FIG. 1B. Then, owing to the weight 24, the check valve 21 rotates in the A2 direction in FIG. 2 around the hinge 22 and is opened, as shown in FIG. 1B. Consequently, the toner drops into the discharger 18 from the dispenser 17 due to its own weight through the cylindrical member 16 and is accumulated in the discharger 18. Then, the toner can be filled into a target from the discharger 18 by connecting the tip end of the ball valve to the target and opening the ball valve.

Thus, according to the present embodiment the toner is flowed from the container body into the dispenser 17 by increments by rotating the container body 11 to be in the inverted state from the erected state. Then, by turning the container body 11 from the inverted state to the erected state, the toner is transferred from the dispenser 17 into the discharger 18 to fill a target. Accordingly, this is a very simple operation for anyone with no experience in any place to smoothly fill the target with the toner.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 3 shows a toner filling device according to a second embodiment. The same symbols are assigned to same parts as the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the structure to flow a constant quantity of toner from the container body 1 and discharge the toner to a target. Specifically, the device additionally comprises an auxiliary container 31 as a dispensing discharger on an upper tip end of a cone portion 11B of the container body 11 when the container body 11 is erected.

As shown in FIG. 4, a cylindrical outward protrusion 11E is formed on the tip end of the cone portion 11B of the container body 11. The auxiliary container 31 is fitted into the outward protrusion 11E.

In FIG. 4, the auxiliary container 31 is comprised of a cylindrical main portion 31B having a bottom wall 31A and a tapered portion 31C above the main portion 31B. As shown in FIG. 6, the main portion 31B includes two inlet holes 31D in the side walls and the tapered portion 31C includes a fan-like outlet hole 31E in a top end. A center angle θ1 of the fan-like outlet hole 31E is 120 degrees. Here, the inlet holes 31D are intended to flow the toner from the container body 11 into the dispensing discharger while the outlet hole 31E is intended to flow remaining toner from the auxiliary container 31 to the container body 11. The two inlet holes 31D are provided on opposed sides, placing a center shaft of the auxiliary container 31 therebetween.

In addition, the auxiliary container 31 includes a projection 31F on the entire outer circumference of the main portion 31B. The projection 31F is fitted into a groove 11F formed on the inner circumference of the outward protrusion 11E when the auxiliary container 31 is fitted into the outward protrusion 11E of the container body 11. Thereby, when fitted into the outward protrusion 11E, the auxiliary container 31 is easily rotated around the center shaft (arrow C1, C2 directions) while it is not easily moved in a direction along the center shaft (arrow D direction). Specifically, this makes it difficult for the auxiliary container 31 to come off from the outward protrusion 11E. In replace of the projection 31F or the groove 11F, a female screw and a male screw are formed on the inner circumference of the outward protrusion 11E and on the outer circumference of the auxiliary container 31, respectively, to engage them.

A T-shaped handle 32 is provided on the bottom wall 31A to allow an operator to easily rotate the dispensing discharger in the arrow C1 and C2 directions by a manual manipulation of the handle.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an inward protrusion 33 provided on an inner end of the cone portion 11B of the container body 11. The inward protrusion 33 protrudes towards the inside of the container body 11 and is of a cylindrical shape with one end (top surface side in the figure) closed. The other end of the inward protrusion 33 is opened and bonded to the end of the cone portion 11B of the container body 11. The inward protrusion 33 is integrally formed with the container body 11.

The inward protrusion 33 includes on the one end a blocking wall 33A which includes a fan-like outlet hole 33B. A center angle θ2 of the fan-like outlet hole 33B is 120 degrees. Further, the inward protrusion 33 includes two inlet holes on the peripheral wall closer to the open end. The inlet holes 33C are formed on the opposed sides, placing a center shaft of the inward protrusion 33 therebetween. The outlet hole 33B has almost the same shape as the outlet hole 31C of the tapered portion 31C of the auxiliary container 31. The inlet holes 33C have an almost same shape as the outlet hole 31E of the main portion 1B of the auxiliary container 31.

Then, the inlet holes 33C of the inward protrusion 33 and the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31 are formed so that their bases match when the auxiliary container 1 is completely fitted into the outward protrusion 11E and the inward protrusion 33.

As shown in FIG. 8, the handle 32 includes a toner passage 32A at the center part connected to the ball valve 34 attached to the handle 32.

The operation of the toner filling device according to the present embodiment will be described as follows:

The container body 11 is normally placed in an erected state in storage or when carried as shown in FIG. 3B. For filling a target with a toner, first, as shown, the container body 11 is turned in arrow E direction to be inverted in FIG. 3B. Then, by a further manipulation of the handle 32 the auxiliary container 31 is rotated in the arrow C1, C2 directions, so that the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31 matches the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33. Then, the toner (a shaded part) flows from the container body 11 into the auxiliary container 31 through the inlet hole 33C and the inlet hole 31D.

When the toner flow into the auxiliary container 31 has completed, the auxiliary container 31 is rotated in either of the arrow C1 and C2 directions by 120 degrees with the handle 32 to deflect the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31 from the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33. The auxiliary container 31 is set to have a constant capacity and flow a constant quantity of toner into the auxiliary container 31.

As described above, the handle 32 includes the toner passage 32A at the center connected to the ball valve 34 attached to the handle 32. Then, for filling a not-shown target with the toner in the auxiliary container 31, the tip end of the ball valve 32 is connected to the target and opened to flow the toner from the auxiliary container 31 into the target and fill it with the constant quantity of toner.

When the filling of the target with the toner is completed, the ball valve 34 is closed. The handle 32 is further rotated by 120 degrees so that the outlet hole 31E of the auxiliary container 31 matches the outlet hole 33B of the inward protrusion 33. The container body is then rotated in a direction opposite to the arrow E direction of FIG. 3 to be brought into the erected state. Then, the remaining toner in the auxiliary container 31 drops into the container body 11 through the outlet hole 31E and the outlet hole 33B due to its own weight.

In filling the target with the toner from the auxiliary container 31, the toner may not be completely discharged but may slightly remain in the auxiliary container 31. However, allowing the outlet hole 31E to match the outlet hole 33B enables any remaining toner in the auxiliary container 31 to completely flow back to the container body 11.

FIGS. 10A to 10C show a positional relation between the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33 and the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31 and that between the outlet hole 31E of the auxiliary container 31 and the outlet hole 31E of the inward protrusion 33.

Specifically, in FIG. 10A, while the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33C matches the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31, the outlet hole 31E of the auxiliary container 31 does not match the outlet hole 33B of the inward protrusion 33.

In FIG. 10B the auxiliary container 31 is turned to the arrow C1 direction by 120 degrees from that in FIG. 10A. The inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33 does not match the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31, and the outlet hole 31E of the auxiliary container 31 does not match the outlet hole 33B of the inward protrusion 33, either.

In FIG. 10C the auxiliary container 31 is further rotated to the arrow direction C1 from that in FIG. 10B. In FIG. 10C, while the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33 does not match the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31, the outlet hole 31E of the auxiliary container 31 matches the outlet hole 33B of the inward protrusion 33.

According to the present embodiment, by turning the container body 11 to be in the inverted state from the erected state, the toner flows from the container body into the auxiliary container 31 by increments. Then, the target can be filled with the toner in the auxiliary container 31 by opening the ball valve 34. Hence, this is a very simple operation for anyone with no experience in any place to smoothly fill the target with the toner.

FIG. 11 shows the features of a toner filling device according to the present embodiment. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11A, a bottom side of the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33 is located slightly above a bottom side of the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31. This may create a problem that a small amount of toner remaining in the container body 11 is blocked by the inlet hole 31D of the toner filling container 31 from flowing. As a result, a very small amount of the toner remains in the container body 11.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 11B, in the present embodiment the base of the inlet hole 33C of the inward protrusion 33 matches or is flush with that of the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31, so that the toner even in a small amount in the container body 11 is not blocked by the inlet hole 31D of the auxiliary container 31. No toner remains in the container body 11 accordingly.

FIG. 12 shows another feature of the toner filling device according to the present embodiment. Specifically, in FIG. 12A, the face of the container body 11 on which the auxiliary container 31 is provided is flat. In this case a small amount of the toner remaining in the container body 11 remains on the flat surface.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 12B, in the present embodiment the cone portion 11B of the container body 11 is inclined, so that the toner in the container body 11, even in a small amount, easily flows along the inner surface of the cone portion 11B. Thus, no toner remains in the container body 11.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a carrying assistance member 35 provided on the container body 11. As described above, the two supporting shafts 13, 14 are fixed on the lateral side of the container body 11, and the legs 12, 15 are rotatably attached to the supporting shafts 13, 14. Thus, with the legs 12, 15 rotated so that their bottoms are spaced from each other, as shown in FIG. 13A, the container body 11 can be stably placed on a floor. In addition, for transportation of the container body 11, an operator can fold the legs 12, 15 as shown in FIG. 13B, easily carry the container body over the shoulders by using the carrying assistance member 35.

FIG. 14 shows the legs 12, 15 spaced apart and the container body 11 stably placed on a floor. In this state the auxiliary container 31 is connected to a target via the ball valve 34 in FIG. 8 to be able to fill the target with the toner from the auxiliary container 31.

FIG. 15 shows another example of the present embodiment. In this example a handle 36 and a ball valve 34 are integrally formed. The handle 36 is intended for rotating an auxiliary container 31 in the arrow C1 and C2 direction in FIG. 6. Specifically, the handle 36 is comprised of a ring-shaped grip 36A, and three stays 36B on the inner side of the grip 36A. The three stays 36B are joined at one end with inner periphery of the grip 36A and joined at the other end with a valve housing 34A of the ball valve 34. The three stays 36B are inclined upward from the one end to the other end. The ball valve 34 is positioned between the bottom wall 31A of the auxiliary container 31 and the grip 36A, which enables an operator to easily manipulate the handle 34B of the auxiliary container 31.

Third Embodiment

The third embodiment describes a mechanism for filling a target with the toner in the auxiliary container 31. As shown in FIGS. 16A, 16B, the auxiliary container 31 includes a handle 32 on a bottom wall 31A and a ball valve 34 is attached to the handle 32. Then, a tip end of the ball valve 34 and a target 41 or 42 are connected to each other with a flexible hose 43. The flexible hose 43 is transparent partially or entirely. In FIG. 16A the target 41 has a height h1 while the target 42 has a height 2 (h1<h1). The target 41 is higher than the target 42.

In the present embodiment, an intermediate part of the flexible hose 43 can be gradually tilted for the target with a high height, and steeply tilted for the target 42 with a low height. Thus, the same flexible house 43 can be used for the tip end of the ball valve 34 and the targets 41, 42. In addition, due to the partly or entirely transparent flexible hose 43, it is made possible for an operator to observe how a toner flows in the flexible hose 43. Additionally, the flexible hose 43 can connect the ball valve 34 and the target 41 or 42 reliably even if there is a slight difference in the diameter of the tip end of the ball valve and a receiving port of the target 41 or 42.

The flexible hose 43 in FIG. 17 additionally includes a coiled spring 44. One end of the flexible hose 43 is connected to a not-shown discharge mechanism 45, and one end of the coiled spring 44 is internally coupled to a manual rotation member 46. In addition, the other end of the flexible hose 43 is connected to a target 47. Note that the discharge mechanism 45 is connected to the auxiliary container 31.

When the operator manually rotates the manual rotation member 46, the coiled spring 44 is rotated as a screw conveyor to carry toner in the flexible hose 43 to the target 47. In addition, when the flexible hose 43 is bent, the coiled spring 44 in the flexible hose 43 is freely bent along the flexible hose 43, thus improving operability for connecting the flexible hose 43 to the target 47.

In FIGS. 18A, 18B the tip end of the ball valve 34 and the target 48 are connected with each other by a bellows type hose 49. Here, the height where a target 48 is placed, that is to say, a distance from a floor surface 50 where the target 48 is placed to the tip end of the ball valve 34, is height h3 in FIG. 18A and h4 (h4<h3) in FIG. 18B. It is shorter in FIG. 18B than in FIG. 18A.

In the present embodiment, the bellows type hose 49 can be extended long in FIG. 18A in the long distance h3. In FIG. 18B in a short distance h3 the bellows type hose 59 can be shrunk. Thus, the same bellows type hose 49 can be used for the tip end of the ball valve 34 and the two targets 48.

FIG. 19 shows a connection mechanism between the tip end of the ball valve 34 and the flexible hose 43 or between the tip end of the ball valve 34 and the bellows type hose 49. A female screw 51 and a male screw 52 are formed on the tip end of the ball valve 34 and on the one end of the flexible hose 43 or the bellows type hose, respectively. By the engagement of the male and female screws 52 and tightening the male screw 5, the flexible hose 43 or the bellows type hose 49 can be easily attached to the tip end of the ball valve 34. The flexible hose 43 or the bellows type hose 49 can be detached from the ball valve 34 by disengaging the female screw 52 and the male screw 51.

Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a toner filling device according to a fourth embodiment. In the present embodiment, a container body is of a cylindrical shape with a bottom closed with the bottom wall 55 and a top closed with a cap 56.

The container body 11 is made from an ABS material in an overall thickness of 5 mm a height of 40 cm, an outer diameter of 40 cm and an internal capacity of 50 liters. The toner content in the container body 11 is 15 kg at 0.3 g/cc.

The cap 56 of the container body 11 includes an auxiliary container 57 as a dispensing discharger at the center. The auxiliary container 47 has an auxiliary container body 57A made from the same ABS material as that of the container body 11.

The auxiliary container 57 has an outer diameter of 10 cm and a height of 5 cm, and a capacity of approximately 400 cc. The toner is temporarily transferred from the container body 11 to the auxiliary container body 57A and then filled into a target such as a toner container, a toner cartridge, or a process cartridge.

As shown in FIG. 21, an opening/closing mechanism 60 comprised of opening/closing members 58, 59 are provided between the auxiliary container body 57A and the container body 11. The opening and closing members 58, 59 are disk-shaped and includes in semi-circular through holes 58A, 59A, respectively. The opening/closing member 58 is fixed to the cap 56 so that it does not easily come off from the cap 56. In addition, the opening/closing member 59 is fixed to the auxiliary container body 57A so that it does not easily come off from the auxiliary container body 57A. Furthermore, although the opening/closing members 58, 59 are closely attached to each other, they are relatively rotatable. Specifically, along with the rotation of the auxiliary container body 57A in arrow F1 and F2 directions, the opening/closing 59 is rotated in the directions together with the auxiliary container body 57A while the opening/closing member 58 is not rotated.

By the rotation of the opening/closing member 59 in the arrow F1 and F2 directions, the interior of the container body 11 can be spatially communicated or blocked with/from the interior of the auxiliary container body 57A.

Alternatively, the opening/closing members 58, 59 can include two each of fan-like through holes 58B, 59B having a center angle of 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 22. In FIG. 21 the auxiliary container body 57A has to be rotated by 180 degrees to repeatedly open and close the holes or vice versa. Meanwhile, in FIG. 22 the auxiliary container body 57A needs to be rotated only by 90 degrees for the repeated opening and closing operation, which can reduce the amount of rotation.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 23, the auxiliary container 57 further includes a fixing mechanism 61 for the opening/closing members 58, 59 on the outer periphery thereof. Specifically, an inverted L-shape groove 62 including an axial groove and a peripheral groove is formed on the outer periphery of the opening/closing member 58. In addition, a groove 63 is formed along the axis on the opening/closing member 59. Meanwhile, the auxiliary container body 57A includes a fixing member 64 on the outer periphery in accordance with the grooves 62, 63. The fixing member 64 can be tilted in the arrows G1 and G2 directions and includes a pin 64A on the tip end which is rotatable in the arrows H1 and H2 directions in a plane parallel to the open end 57B of the auxiliary container body 57A. The pin 64A is generally biased to the arrow H1 direction by a bias member such as a spring.

Further, when the auxiliary container 57 is attached to the container body 11 for the transportation or storage of the container body 11, the fixing member 64 is tilted to fit into the grooves 62, 63 in the arrow G2 direction. Then, the pin 64A abuts the groove 62, is tilted in the arrow H2 direction, and completely fitted into the groove 62. By fitting the fixing member 64 into the grooves 62, 63, the auxiliary container body 57A can be firmly fixed and prevented from inadvertently moving or rotating relative to the container body 11.

Moreover, in FIG. 20 the container body 11 comprises a regulation member 65 at the top portion for regulating a flow of toner from the container body 11 to the auxiliary container 57 when the container body 11 is inverted.

FIG. 24A is a front view of the regulation member 65 and FIG. 24B is a bottom view thereof. The regulation member 65 is of a casserole shaped as a whole, and includes six slots 65A in the inclined side surface thereof. The regulation member 65 is provided with an approximately circular notch 65C attaching at the member 65 only at one end (left side in the FIG. 65B to form a receiving port 65D which can pivot only downward around the one end 65B. A top part of the regulation member 65 is opened. When the regulation member 65 is mounted in the top portion of the container body 11 (underside of the cap 56), as shown in FIG. 20, the interior of the container body 11 is spatially connected to the opening/closing mechanism 60 through the regulation member 65.

A circular discharge regulation plate 66, as shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, is fixed to the one end of the auxiliary container body 57A (an end face on the opposite side to the side where the opening/closing mechanism 60 is provided). The discharge regulation plate 66 is to regulate a discharge amount of toner, and has a semi-circular through hole 66A formed at the center and two threaded holes 66B. A circular blocking plate (see FIG. 20) is normally attached to the discharge regulation plate 66 through the threaded holes 66B so as not to leak the toner from the auxiliary container 57 to the outside.

The operation of the toner filling device according to the present embodiment will be described as follows.

The container body 11 is normally placed in an erected state in storage or when carried, as shown in FIG. 20. For filling a target with the toner from the container body 11, the auxiliary container body 57A is turned to one direction (arrow F1 or F2 direction), so that the through hole 59A of the opening/closing member 59 matches the through hole 58A of the opening/closing member 58. Then, the container body 11 is turned to be inverted to flow the toner from the container body 11 into the opening/closing mechanism 60 through the slots 65 of the regulation member 65 due to its own weight. The flow of the toner is appropriately regulated by the regulation member 65. In other words, by turning the container body 11 upside down, the receiving port 65D is pressed down due to the toner weight to eliminate a gap G, and the toner flows to the opening/closing mechanism 60 only through the slots 65A.

Moreover, flowing into the opening/closing mechanism 60, the toner passes through the through-hole 58A of the opening/closing member 58 and the through-hope 59A of the opening/closing member 59, and flows into the auxiliary container body 57A. The auxiliary container body 57A is sufficiently filled with the toner is turned in the reverse direction to seal the interior thereof by avoiding the through-hole 59A of the opening/closing member 59 from coinciding with the through-hole 58A of the opening/closing member 58. The auxiliary container body 57A including the through-hole 59A of the opening/closing member 59 and the through-hole 66A of the discharge regulation plate 66 is set to have a certain capacity. Thus, by the operations the certain quantity of toner can be flowed.

Next, a method of filling a target with the toner from the auxiliary container body 57A will be described. To fill the target, the blocking plate 67 on the discharge regulation plate 66 at one end of the body 57A is removed and a toner filler 68 is attached to the discharge regulation plate 66, as shown in FIG. 25.

The toner filler 68 has a ring-shaped base 68A and a conical filling portion 68B at the center of the base 68A, and a filling port 68C at an end of the filling portion 68B. It additionally includes two screw holes 68D so as to match a screw hole 66B of the discharge regulation plate 66. Then, in order to attach the toner filler 68 to the discharge regulation plate 66, two screws 69 are threadably engaged into the screw hole 66B of the discharge regulation plate 66 through the screw hole 68D of the toner filler 68 and tightened. Thus, the toner filler 68 can be firmly attached to the discharge regulation plate 66.

Once the toner filler 68 is attached, the filling port 68C of the toner filler 68 is connected to the target to be then filled with toner from the auxiliary container body 57A. Upon completion of the filling operation, the container body 11 is placed into the erected state and the toner receiving portion 65D drops due to its own weight, forming the gap G. Hence, any toner remaining in the auxiliary container body 57A drops into the container body 11 through the gap G.

FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 show the other examples of the present embodiment. It takes a lot of time and labor to attach the toner filler 68 with the screw 69 as shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26. In the present embodiment, the outer diameter of the toner filling base 68A is protruded slightly more than that of the discharge regulation plate 66, and a ring-like projection 68E towards the discharge regulation plate 66 is provided on the protruded portion of the base 68A. The rest of the configurations are the same as those in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26.

With such a configuration, the toner filler 68 is attachable to the discharge regulation plate 66 with a single step, simply by pressing the projection 68E of the toner filler 68 along the outer periphery of the discharge regulation plate 66. The toner filler 68 can be also easily removed from the discharge regulation plate 66.

In the present embodiment, although not shown, the legs 12, 15 and the carrying assistance member 35 in FIG. 13 and else can be attached to the container body.

Further, the present invention can provide a medium filling method which comprises the steps of turning a container containing an image forming medium to thereby flow a constant quantity of the image forming medium to a dispenser, and discharging the image forming medium from the dispenser to fill a target.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. It should be appreciated that variations or modifications may be made in the present embodiments described by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

For example, the toner filling device according to any of the above embodiments can be applied for filling any powder other than toner. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A medium filling device, comprising: a container rotatably supported, to contain an image forming medium; a dispenser configured to receive a constant quantity of the image forming medium from the container by a turn of the container; and a discharger configured to discharge the image forming medium from the dispenser to a target.
 2. A medium filling device, comprising: a container rotatably supported, to contain an image forming medium; a dispenser provided in a top part of the container and configured to receive a constant quantity of the image forming medium from the container when the container is turned to be inverted; and a discharger provided in a bottom part of the container and configured to discharge the image forming medium from the dispenser to a target when the container is turned again to be erected.
 3. The medium filling device according to claim 2, wherein the container comprises a tubular member to connect the dispenser and the discharger, through which the received image forming medium is conveyed from the dispenser to the discharger when the container becomes erected.
 4. The medium filling device according to claim 2, further comprising: an inflow hole between the container and the dispenser, through which the image forming medium is flowed into the dispenser; and a check valve provided between the dispenser and the tubular member and configured to allow the image forming medium to be conveyed from the dispenser to the discharger when the container becomes erected.
 5. The medium filling device according to claim 4, wherein the container comprises a cone-shaped top portion and is formed such that a bottom end of the inflow hole is located below a top surface of the cone-shaped top portion when the container becomes inverted.
 6. A medium filling device comprising: a container rotatably supported, to contain an image forming medium; and a dispensing discharger configured to receive a constant quantity of the image forming medium from the container by a turn of the container and to be connected to a target to discharge the received image forming medium to the target when the container is turned to be inverted.
 7. The medium filling device according to claim 6, wherein the dispensing discharger is rotatably attached to the container and is detachable from the container.
 8. The medium filling device according to claim 6, wherein the dispensing discharger includes an inlet hole into which the image forming medium is flowed from the container and an outlet hole from which the image forming medium is flowed back to the container, and has a blocking function to block between an interior of the dispensing discharger and an interior of the container.
 9. The medium filling device according to claim 6, wherein the dispensing discharger includes an opening/closing mechanism for allowing or blocking a flow of the image forming medium.
 10. The medium filling device according to claim 6, wherein the dispensing discharger comprises a filler detachably attached thereto, to fill the target with the received image forming medium.
 11. The medium filling device according to claim 10, wherein the container includes a cone-shaped top portion formed such that a bottom side of the inlet hole is flush with a top surface of the cone-shaped top portion when the container becomes inverted.
 12. The medium filling device according to claim 1, further comprising a flexible hose attached to a tip end of the discharger for discharging the image forming medium to the target.
 13. The medium filling device according to claim 12, wherein the flexible hose comprises a rotatable coiled spring.
 14. The medium filling device according to claim 12, wherein the flexible hose is a bellows type hose.
 15. The medium filling device according to claim 12, wherein the flexible hose is formed to be transparent partially or entirely.
 16. The medium filling device according to claim 12, wherein the flexible hose comprises, at an end, a fixing bracket formed to be detachably attached to the tip end of the discharger or the dispensing discharger by use of a screw.
 17. The medium filling device according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises a leg on a lateral side and rotatably supported by the leg.
 18. The medium filling device according to claim 17, wherein a rotation center of the container is positioned above a gravity center of the container while the container is erected.
 19. The medium filling device according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises a holder on a lateral side to hold the container when the container becomes inverted.
 20. The medium filling device according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises a carrying assistance member on a lateral side to allow an operator to carry the container on an operator's back. 